Whitt’s Barbecue

The wife and I hit up one of the new local BBQ joints yesterday and I must say I really enjoyed it. Whitt's Barbecue is off of Gill street in Alcoa, TN and while the building may be new and the design contemporary the flavor of their food and hospitality is spot on traditional. We told the staff it was our first time there and they were great about walking us through their menu options, letting us know what to try and answering any questions. While the wife got her standard pulled pork dinner plate I went with the smoked ribs. Ribs are only served on Friday and Saturday and they use a dry rub and a smoker to prep these delicious pieces of heaven. I was expecting 3 – 4 tiny ribs but instead was treated to a stack of 6 topped with a slice of the best sweet cornbread I've had in a LONG time.

We've found it difficult to locate a good vinegar based BBQ sauce but Whitt's Barbecue delivered. They have 3 at the table, all of them are great. Their sweet tea was also well done. If I had anything negative to say is that the sides that we tried were not anything to write home about. The beans were beans, the mac & cheese I had was decent but nothing special. The wife had a bag of chips and the slaw which she didn't care for but I liked it. The slaw isn't your typical mayo drizzled mix, this had more of a relish or vinegar flavor to it which I loved. We capped it by splitting an order of banana pudding which was quite tasty! The wife prefers warm banana pudding so it wasn't the best in the world according to her but for a gent that loves cold banana pudding this stuff hit the spot.
I would argue that the ribs were some of the best I've had. Texas Road House is known for their ribs but they are "wet" ribs so you basically rely on the sauce to make up most of your flavor. Don't get me wrong, Road House does a fantastic job on ribs but I think Whitt's has them beat, especially if you're a person that likes a dry rub as opposed to something slathered in sauce. The meat fell off the bone these things were so tender. My littlest one who is teething at the moment enjoyed gnawing on the bones after I had pulled the meat off. I think she enjoyed the ribs just as much as I did! (she certainly enjoyed the banana pudding!)